Conference Update

In less than a week, SCWW members will be driving and flying into Myrtle Beach for the 2011 conference. Have you registered? There’s still time. Just visit www.myscww.org/conference and follow the link for credit cards (we can’t accept anymore checks because the mail might not make it to us in time). Want to pay by check though? You can register at the conference.

Did you manage to shift your schedule and can attend sessions on Friday? You can add it to your previous registration by emailing scwwconference2011@gmail.com. Please, don’t start a new registration. That costs the organization needless fees.

Or, did you sign up for a basic conference package and now you really want to add meal tickets? Again, don’t start a new registration, just email scwwconference2011@gmail.com.

Appointment Times

You signed up for an appointment with a faculty member. You’re anxious to know who and when you’ll meet, right? Well, this year we’ll be sending out appointment time information the week before the conference. Appointment times will be emailed out, starting Friday. Please, keep in mind we sold 100 critiques alone, so it’s impossible to send out all of the emails in one day. But, everyone should have their information by Monday. If you don’t, please email scwwconference2011@gmail.com.

Keep in mind that appointment times and faculty cannot be changed, unless there was an error on the part of SCWW. Also, unlike previous years, you MAY NOT swap times or appointments. Only the attendee listed on our appointment schedule will be allowed in. Reselling of appointments is prohibited.

The Notebook

No, we’re not referring to the Sparks’ novel by that title. We want to tell you about our conference notebook; it will be your guide for our conference weekend, October 21-23.

The Table of Contents will help you use the information more effectively, along with a map of the Hilton Myrtle Beach Resort and the menus for our meals. The notebook features front and back pockets to hold transparencies for slush piles and handouts from sessions. Of course, you’ll want to bring your own notebook to take notes. They’ll fit together perfectly.

In the conference notebook, in addition to the schedule for sessions and activities for the entire weekend, you’ll also find bio pages of our faculty with their photos so you’ll know what they look like before you go into your appointments or be able to recognize them on the elevator and mealtimes. There are instructions for the Silent Auction and SCWW Board of Directors bios and pics. Please introduce yourself to us; we want to get to know you.

Have you heard the news? There’s new and exciting activity with this year’s Silent Auction. The first is what is on the auction tables. We have 3 amazing get-aways: Three Oaks in TN, The Lazy Spring Ranch in WY and The Hilton Myrtle Beach Resort in SC. We have after-conference faculty critiques ranging from 25 pages to a query + the first three chapters. See above for a complete list of bid lots.

And very new this year, we’re offering Proxy Bidding! Members unable to attend the conference may place bids on silent auction lots through a designated proxy bidder. Below are the guidelines for taking advantage of this new opportunity.

All bids must be placed by a member attending the SCWW Conference Members wishing to place bids by proxy should notify Silent Auction Chair, Kim Blum-Hyclak at kim.blumhyclak@gmail.com no later than noon on Friday, October 21, with the following information:

Members attending the conference and serving as a proxy bidder will submit a proxy bid sheet which will be in the conference notebook. All items must be paid for by 1:00 Sunday, October 23. Items won through proxy bid must be paid for through the proxy bidder and proxy bidder is responsible for taking and delivering the auction item. SCWW will not ship any auction winnings.

At the conference you will meet other SCWW members, published authors, editors and agents. You will also meet conference volunteers. Volunteers are SCWW members who are help to staff the conference. You’ll see volunteers practically everywhere you go during the conference. They will check you in at the registration desk, or sell you a t-shirt or Petigru Review at the Book Nook, or they’ll check your badge at meals. Say hi, they are really nice people and they’ll be glad to meet you.

Volunteers will easily indentified by the blue and green “Volunteer” buttons they will be wearing. If you need help with anything, from directions to a particular location or the answer to a question, just ask. If that volunteer doesn’t immediately have an answer to your question, he or she will find Carrie, Ginny or Kia and get you an answer as quickly as possible.